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National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) and Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)December 1, 2006 (via email)
A new provision in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) addresses the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), 34 CFR 300.172(a)(1). The goal of NIMAS is to promote the development of high quality and consistent source files to be used to create specialized formats for students with print disabilities. Compliance with NIMAS is mandatory. The U. S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has established a National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) at the American Printing House for the Blind, which will create a national repository of NIMAS source files that can be converted into accessible formats for students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with other print disabilities. Responsibilities of the State Education Agency In order to ensure that students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with other print disabilities, receive instructional materials in a timely manner, each state is required to adopt NIMAS. NIMAS establishes a standard for publishers to follow that is consistent and valid when producing instructional materials in accessible format. Instructional materials supported by NIMAS include textbooks and core materials that are written and published for elementary and secondary school instruction. Wisconsin has provided an assurance to OSEP of our adoption of NIMAS and our full cooperation with NIMAC. Responsibilities of the Local Education Agency All districts must send to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) an assurance form stating that their students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with other print disabilities, will receive their materials in the appropriate format and in a timely manner. The DPI strongly recommends districts coordinate with NIMAC to ensure delivery of print materials in a timely manner. If a district chooses to coordinate with NIMAC, contracts with publishers on or after December 3, 2006, must include a written provision addressing the production of instructional materials in NIMAS files to be forwarded to NIMAC. The K-12 curriculum publishers have been involved in this process and are well-informed. Below is a sample of the language to be used in contracts: By agreeing to deliver the materials marked with “NIMAS” on this contract or purchase order, on or before ___/___/___, the publisher agrees to prepare and submit files meeting NIMAS requirements to the NIMAC at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) located in Louisville, Kentucky. Should the vendor be a distributor of the materials and not the publisher, the distributor agrees to immediately notify the publisher of its obligation to submit NIMAS file sets of the purchased products to the NIMAC. The files will be used for the production of accessible formats as permitted under the law for students who are blind or have other print disabilities. If a district chooses not to coordinate with NIMAC, the district must submit with its assurance form a plan of actions to comply with NIMAS. Please print the assurance form (form-fillable) located at http://dpi.wi.gov/forms/doc/f2194.doc and ask the district administrator or appropriate official to complete and sign the form and return it with the plan, if required, to the DPI by January 12, 2007. Please refer to the links below for more information:
Last updated on 2/22/2008 1:29:22 PM |
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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster
Department of Public Instruction, 125 S. Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841 (800) 441-4563  Locate Us Copyright Privacy Non Discrimination Accessibility Questions / Comments DPI Home
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